Download data Table 4a. Literacy Last update: July 2008 Country or area Year Adult (15+) literacy rate Youth (15-24) literacy rate Women Men Women Men Afghanistan 2000 13 43 18 51 Albania 2007 a 99 99 99 99 Algeria 2007 a 66 84 91 94 Angola 2001 54 83 63 84 Argentina 2007 a 98 98 99 99 Armenia 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Aruba 2007 a 98 98 99 99 Azerbaijan 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Bahrain 2007 a 86 90 100 100 Bangladesh 2007 a 48 59 73 71 Belarus 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Benin 2007 a 28 53 41 63 Bhutan 2007 a 42 67 73 83 Bolivia 2007 a 85 95 98 99 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2000 94 99 100 100 Botswana 2007 a 83 83 95 93 Brazil 2007 a 91 90 99 97 Brunei Darussalam 2007 a 93 96 100 100 Bulgaria 2007 a 98 99 97 98 Burkina Faso 2007 22 37 33 47 Burundi 2000 52 67 70 77 Cambodia 2007 a 68 86 83 90 Cameroon 2001 60 77 ... ... Cape Verde 2007 a 79 89 98 97 Central African Republic 2000 33 65 47 70 Chad 2000 13 41 23 56 Chile 2007 a 96 97 99 99 China 2007 a 90 96 99 99 Colombia 2007 a 93 94 98 98 Comoros 2007 a 70 80 87 92 Congo 2007 a 82 92 98 99 Costa Rica 2007 a 96 96 98 98 Côte d'Ivoire 2000 39 61 52 71 Croatia 2007 a 98 99 100 100 Cuba 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Cyprus 2007 a 97 99 100 100 Democratic Republic of the Congo 2001 54 81 63 78 Dominican Republic 2007 a 90 89 97 95 Ecuador 2007 a 92 94 97 96 Egypt 2007 a 61 84 82 90 El Salvador 2007 a 83 88 96 95 Equatorial Guinea 2000 80 93 95 95 Estonia 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Ethiopia 2004 23 50 39 62 Gabon 2007 a 82 90 96 98 Ghana 2007 a 58 72 76 80 Greece 2007 a 96 98 99 99 Guatemala 2007 a 68 79 83 88 Guinea-Bissau 2007 a 54 75 87 94 Guinea 2003 18 43 34 59 Haiti 2007 a 64 60 87 76 Honduras 2007 a 84 82 93 88 Hungary 2007 a 99 99 99 98 India 2007 a 54 77 77 87 Indonesia 2007 a 88 95 99 99 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2007 a 79 90 97 98 Iraq 2000 64 84 80 89 Italy 2007 a 99 99 100 100 Jamaica 2007 a 91 81 98 91 Jordan 2007 a 89 97 99 99 Kazakhstan 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Kenya 2000 70 78 81 80 Kuwait 2007 a 92 95 100 100 Kyrgyzstan 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2007 a 67 80 80 85 Latvia 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Lesotho 2001 90 74 ... ... Liberia 2007 a 51 60 76 68 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2007 a 78 94 98 100 Lithuania 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Macao, China 2007 a 90 96 100 100 Madagascar 2000 65 77 68 73 Malawi 2007 a 65 79 82 84 Malaysia 2007 a 90 94 98 98 Maldives 2007 a 97 97 98 98 Mali 2007 a 16 31 23 36 Malta 2007 a 93 90 99 96 Mauritania 2007 a 48 63 62 70 Mauritius 2007 a 85 90 97 95 Mexico 2007 a 91 94 98 98 Mongolia 2007 a 98 97 97 94 Morocco 2007 a 43 69 67 84 Mozambique 2007 a 33 57 47 58 Myanmar 2000 86 94 93 96 Namibia 2007 a 87 89 94 91 Nepal 2007 a 44 70 73 85 Netherlands Antilles 2007 a 96 96 98 98 Nicaragua 2007 a 81 80 92 85 Niger 2007 a 16 44 26 53 Nigeria 2007 a 64 80 85 89 Oman 2007 a 77 89 98 99 Pakistan 2007 a 40 69 60 79 Palestinian Autonomous Territories 2007 a 89 97 99 99 Panama 2007 a 93 94 96 97 Papua New Guinea 2007 a 53 62 65 63 Paraguay 2007 a 93 94 97 96 Peru 2007 a 86 95 97 99 Philippines 2007 a 94 93 95 94 Poland 2007 a 99 100 99 100 Portugal 2007 a 93 97 100 100 Qatar 2007 a 90 90 98 97 Republic of Moldova 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Romania 2007 a 97 98 98 97 Russian Federation 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Rwanda 2000 60 71 77 79 Samoa 2007 a 98 99 99 99 Sao Tome and Principe 2007 a 83 93 95 95 Saudi Arabia 2007 a 79 89 96 98 Senegal 2007 a 32 53 44 59 Seychelles 2002 92 91 99 99 Sierra Leone 2007 a 27 50 44 64 Singapore 2007 a 92 97 100 100 Slovenia 2007 a 100 100 100 100 South Africa 2007 a 87 89 96 95 Spain 2007 a 96 99 100 100 Sri Lanka 2007 a 90 93 98 97 Sudan 2000 52 71 71 85 Suriname 2007 a 88 93 95 96 Swaziland 2000 78 81 90 87 Syrian Arab Republic 2007 a 76 90 92 95 Tajikistan 2007 a 100 100 100 100 Thailand 2007 a 93 96 98 98 The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 2007 a 95 99 99 99 Togo 2000 38 69 64 84 Tonga 2007 a 99 99 100 100 Trinidad and Tobago 2007 a 98 99 100 100 Tunisia 2007 a 69 86 94 97 Turkey 2007 a 81 96 94 98 Turkmenistan 2007 a 99 100 100 100 Uganda 2007 a 66 82 84 88 Ukraine 2007 a 100 100 100 100 United Arab Emirates 2007 a 89 91 96 99 United Republic of Tanzania 2007 a 66 79 76 79 Uruguay 2007 a 98 98 99 98 Uzbekistan 2000 96 98 99 99 Vanuatu 2007 a 76 80 92 92 Venezuela 2001 93 93 98 96 Yemen 2007 a 40 77 67 93 Zimbabwe 2007 a 88 94 99 98 Top

Sources:

UNESCO Institute for Statistics, National literacy rates for youths (15-24) and adults (15+), available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed June 2008).

Footnotes:

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Technical notes:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines a literate person as someone who can both read and write with understanding, a short, simple statement on his or her everyday life. A person who can only read but not write, or can write but not read is considered to be illiterate. A person who can only write figures, his or her name or a memorized ritual phrase is also not considered literate.

This definition of literacy is widely used in national population censuses and surveys but its interpretation and application may vary to some extent among countries, depending on national, social and cultural circumstances. Furthermore, this concept of literacy includes persons who, though familiar with the basics of reading and writing, might still be considered functionally illiterate.

For many countries or areas, literacy rates are not available for one or more of the following reasons: (a) illiteracy is believed to have been reduced to minimal levels through several decades of universal primary education, (b) it has not been possible to establish revised estimates following recent mass literacy campaigns, (c) not even a minimal database is available for making rough estimates, or (d) countries have preferred that no estimate be published.